I used to think of the Soviet aesthetic as sparse and utilitarian, but no longer. French photographer Frederic Chaubin toured the former Soviet Union to find amazing examples of Soviet architecture for his book Cosmic Communist Constructions Photographed (a play on CCCP, the Russian abbreviation for the USSR).

In the final years of the Soviet Union (1970-1990), unorthodox designs flourished as architects expressed their desire for independence and the end of the Communist regime. The Brezhnev-era buildings were also a response to the growing Western influence of the period, when architects were discovering modern styles and fostering rebellion through creative freedom.

Chaubin found these many of these monoliths on the outer edges of the USSR, in the Baltic states and central Asia, where the revolt against the central government was the strongest. Most of the buildings are isolated, which increases their eerie appeal — like lonely spaceships that landed in Soviet territory.

See more fascinating images at WASF or get the book for yourself at Taschen.